Rubber sole and heel



23, 19 2 EI T; PACKARD 1,846,450"

RUBBER SOLE AND HEEL Filed Sept. 18, 1930 Fig.5. 1 5 4 Fig.6. 7 8 7 \nvenTo-r. EvereTTT. Packard b W Maw 1o surfaces.

Patented Feb. 23, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EVERETT T. PACKARD, 0F AVON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 AVON SOLE COM- PANY, OF AVON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS RUBBER. SOLE Am) HEEL Application filed September 18, 1930. Serial No. 482,658.

This invention relates to rubber soles and heels and especially to a form of solo and heel particularly adapted for sports wear having a tread which is effective to prevent 5i slipping on turf or like surfaces.

It has been found desirable to provide shoes for sports wear with spikes or cleats in order to provide a positive non-slipping contact of the foot upon turf or similar soft yielding The spikes or cleats used for such purposes are invariably constructed of hard unyielding material usually metal. Shoes fitted with such spikes are not suitable for indoor wear since it is impossible to prevent them from cutting and injuring finished floor surfaces. It is the principal object of this invention to provide a tread surface for a sole having the non-slipping characteristics of a metal spiked sole, but of such a character that they may be worn indoors without injury to floor surfaces.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shoe sole of soft yielding rubber composition having inserts of relatively hard rubber composition inseparably connected to the sole, the inserts being provided with raised spikes or projections.

Other objects and features will more fully appear from the following description in con- -0 nection with the accompanying drawings,

and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a general view illustrating the appearance of the finished sole.

Fig. 2 is a view of the forward portion of a sole illustrating one of the steps in the process of making the sole.

Fig. 8 is a view of a finished heel.

Fig. 4 is a cross section through the vulcanizing dies with the unvulcanized blank in position therein.

Fig. 5 is a cross section through the dies after the sole has been vulcanized.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the in sorted sections as prepared before being placed in position on the sole preparatory to vulcaniaing.

The many advantages of a shoe sole or heel provided with spikes or cleats for certain kinds of activity such as playing golf or other athleticpursuits are many and wellknown. There are, however, certain disadvantages. A shoe equipped with the usual metal spikes or cleats cannot-be worn indoors upon nicely finished floor surfaces since it is impossible to prevent them from cutting or nearing the surface thereof. The present invention provides a sole which incorporates all of the advantages of the metal spike sole in addition to possessing the advantage of permitting the wearer to walk upon a finished floor surface without injuring the same.

The invention may be embodied in either a sole or a heel or both. The body portion of the sole may be constructed of any suitable rubber composition. For sports wear, however, it is desirable that the sole be flexible and yielding to permit the muscles of the foot to function properly. The material must be capable of vulcanization under the action of heat and pressure. In the surface of the body portion are fixed one or more rubber inserts composed of small plates of relatively hard rubber having formed integral therewith hard rubber projections or spikes. The rubber composition out of which the spikes are made is so processed that they possess sufficient hardness and toughness to function as non-slipping means to the same degree as ametal spike. On the other hand, the charac ter of this rubber composition is such that the wearer of the sole equipped with these inserts may walk upon nicely finished floor surfaces without injuring them. The same construction and material is employed in making the heel which is secured to the shoe by tacking in the usual manner.

The sole may be prepared for vulcanizing in any suitable manner. The procedure followed in the specific case presented herein is as follows. The body portion 1 of the sole is constructed of two layers of rubber compound which are placed together and held in position by the tacky character of the rubher. The tread layer 2 of the sole is made of a soft yielding rubber compound while the other layer contains a quantity of fibre which gives it a tenacious character suitable to retain the stitches when the sole is sewed to the shoe.

c .tom of the spike.

To facilitate the manufacture of the sole or heel it is desirable that the various component parts of the sole be placed in the approximate position which they will assume in the finished product. Consequently, the inserts are placed in their proper position on the sole before being vulcanized. Any desired number of inserts may be used.- As shown in the drawing there are three such inserts 3, 4 and 5. The inserts are prepared by cutting out sections 6 of the proper rubber compound in sheet form. Upon the sections 6 are fixed small portions 7 of similar material out of which the spikes are to be formed by the vulcanizing process. The portions 7 contain substantially the required amount of material to form a'finished spike and are placed in their proper position upon the sections 6. There are seven of these spike-forming portions on each of the inserts. The numl position on the forward portion of the sole. Decorated effects may be added if desired.

As shown herein a slightly raised portion 8 is formed on the sole within the inner edges of the three inserts 3, 4: and 5. This raised portion may be desirably cut from apiece of sheet material of the same character as the body portion of the sole and placed in position on the assembled article, which at this time presents an appearance similar to that shown in Fig. 2. The assembled article is "then placed inthe vulcanizing mold. The

lower member 9 of the mold is formed to the exact shape it is desired the finished product to have while the upper member 10 is a flat plate. The unvulcanized sole when placed in the vulcanizing mold presents an appearance similar to that shown in Fig. 4.

Heat and pressure are now applied to the anold-which vulcanizes the rubber and causes the various sections to become inseparably united. Under the vulcanlzmg heat the sole conforms to the mold as shown in Fig. 5 at which time the upper member 10 has engaged the lower member thus determining the exact shape and thickness of the sole. 'The sole is then ready to be removed from the mold and applied to the shoe. It will be understood that the method above described for assembling the various parts of the sole before vulcanizing forms no part of the invention. The component parts may be placed in their respective positions at any stage of the proc- ;ess of manufacture before vulcanization.

The spikes are preferably of a generally conical shape as illustrated and particularly in thesole portion proper terminate in a pointed tip. In the process of vulcanization thistip becomes much harderthan the bot- Thereis thus presented a spike which is somewhat flexible but still has a hard gripping point.

The heel 11 may be made in the same manner as the sole by vulcanizing the spike-carrying inserts 12 in their proper positions. The heel inserts 12 may be arranged about the heel in any suitable manner and may be of any desired number. The spikes 13 on the heel inserts do not project to the same extent as those upon the sole. This, however, is merely a matter of design, the spikes being shaped iii-accordance with requirements of the particular use to which the shoe is adapted. Aside from the spiked inserts the heel may be of standard construction having the usual means by which it may be tacked to the shoe.

Boots or shoes equipped with this invention'have'all the advantages both of rubber sole shoes and of leather sole shoes provided with spikes as sport shoes for golf and similar athletic purposes. They not only provide the necessary grip on the turf while at the same time enabling the wearer to walk on finished or carpeted floors without injury".

thereto, but they are also weather-proof and comfortable to the foot of the wearer.

The term sole as used in the following claims is to be construed ascovering-either the entire sole made up of the sole proper? and the heel, or the sole portion alone or the heel portion alone.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is: i

1. A shoe sole comprising .a body portion having a tread of soft rubber composition, a thin flat insert of relatively hard flexible rubber inseparably fixed to the tread of said bodyportion, a plurality of spikes integral with and of the same material as said insert projecting therefrom to effect firm engagement with turf or other yielding surface.

2. A shoe sole comprising a body portion having a tread of soft flexible rubber composition, a plurality of relatively hard flexible rubber non-slipping portions superposed upon the body portion composed of thin flat base portions and a plurality of spikes of the same material as the base portion, all of the.

elements of the sole being vulcanized into an inseparable union wherein said spikes project beyond the surface of said body portion to effect a firm engagement with turf or other yielding surface.

3. A shoe sole comprising the construction defined in claim 1 in which the spikes are all of generally conical shape with the tip portion substantially harder than the bottom portion of the spike.

f. A shoe sole comprising a body portion having a base layer of rubber compound containing fibre to enable it to retain stitches and a tread layer of soft flexible rubber composition, a plurality of relatively hard flexible rubber non-slipping portions superimposed upon the tread layer and composed of thin, flat base portions and a plurality of spikes, of the same material as the base portions, all of the said elements of the sole being vu1- eanized into an inseparable union with the spikes projecting beyond the tread surface of the body portion.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

EVERETT T. PACKARD. 

